


Touch of Happiness

by Didimac



Category: Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-10-14 15:42:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17511356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Didimac/pseuds/Didimac
Summary: RE-WRITTEN. When you're the daughter of the most important man of all Spira, you have some 'privileges' that no one else has, but you also have to bear as people approach you for interest or to get evidence against your father.





	1. A magician never reveals its tricks

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This is a work that I started uploading to FanFiction, but I decided to rewrite and modify it. I hope you like it.

Luca was the favorite place of young people due to its numerous nightclubs, its restaurants and cafes, and shopping centers. The most privileged had a house there, so they could have all the comforts that the city offered them at any time. However, people who lived in other cities or in some villages could only visit occasionally the city because transport was very expensive, especially during the weekends.  
There was not the case of our girls. Luckily for Paine and her friends, she had an apartment near the center of Luca, so they could make their living in the city without having to worry about transport from one city to another.  
That night the girls had agreed to go to one of the new clubs that were inaugurated in the city. They decided to go to one that was run by a friend of Paine’s father so that the drinks would be free for them. They arrived at the club and saw that the queue was huge and went around the block.  
"Do we really have to wait for that queue?" Rikku asked with a tone of desperation in her voice.  
"Maybe Paine can do something." Yuna suggested with a smile. Both Yuna and Rikku knew that Paine had some 'privileges' and could get anything she wanted.  
Paine looked at her friends and then the queue. She did not like to use these 'privileges' but did not like to wait such a long queue though. Paine looked at her friends, who were waiting for her to answer. She sighed and she went to guard at the door, followed by her friends.  
"Excuse me." Paine said, placing her hand on her hip.  
The guard looked down at her and her friends. He noticed the clothes of each one. Paine wore a black skirt with a tank top of the same color. The top highlighted Paine’s figure and made all eyes were pointed at her chest, but that does not bother Paine. She knew she had a nice chest and did not want to hide it. Her outfit was accompanied by black patent leather heels, shining due to the reflection of the city lights in them.  
After Paine, the man noticed Rikku. Rikku was wearing white shorts accompanied by a top with blue, green, yellow and red stripes. The colors brought her tan out. Her blonde hair was in a braid that was cast aside, and that came at the waist. It could have passed for a girl of 17 years if it was not for her high heels and makeup that made her look like a girl of 20 years, her real age.  
Finally, Yuna's turn came. Yuna wore a simple black dress that left her back all bare. Her sandals made the attire very elegant. She was not wearing much makeup as Rikku. She did not need it. Yuna, like Paine, looked to be 20 years without makeup.  
After an analysis of the girls, the guard turned his gaze to Paine, who was waiting for him to let them went inside. As the guard was taking his time, Paine decided to take her heavy artillery and approached the guard, whispering something that her friends did not hear. The guard expression changed completely and moved to one side, letting the girls went inside.  
Once inside, the girls asked Paine what she had said, but Paine just smiled and simply said that she reminded him who she was. They were looking for a place to sit and suddenly found LeBlanc, who was making signs to them to sit with her.  
"Hey." Rikku greeted happily as she sat on the couch that LeBlanc had long occupied.  
"Loves, I thought you would never come with such a long queue." LeBlanc said.  
"Well, let's say that Paine has used her contacts." Yuna said with a smile.  
"Really Paine, someday you'll have to tell us how you do it. You always get people to do what you want." Rikku said laughing.  
"A magician never reveals her tricks." She just said. She did not want to tell her friends the truth of why she could do anything she wants. She was not yet prepared to tell the whole truth to the girls.  
"Someday we'll find out." Yuna joked and rose from the couch, accompanied by Rikku, to order drinks for all.

"Your target just arrived." Lenne said to a guy with chocolate eyes and platinum hair. She was on the other side of the bar working as a waitress. "Turn around slowly. She is sitting on a table in the back of the room. To the right." Lenne ordered the boy, who instantly spotted Paine.  
"Okay, okay, okay. Explain it again. Why Baralai and not me?" A blond guy with a patch over his right eye asked, making Lenne let out a sigh of despair.  
"Gippal for the fifth time! We need someone to get into her circle of friends. You wouldn’t introduce yourself to her circle of friends. You would introduce yourself to her bed and you’d left the following day, spoiling the mission." Lenne said exasperatedly.  
Lenne was the leader of a group of the police that carried out investigations. The police knew that Spira had someone who was a drug dealer, and their suspicions were placed in the most important businessman of all Spira, Millow Teyw. The problem was that they did not have enough evidence to charge him. For weeks they had shuffled the different options they had to get that evidence. One was that a member of the police works directly for him, but that was not so easy. Mr. Teyw did not hire people so easily. Another option was to watch him over 24 hours until the police caught him with his hands in the dough, but Millow was a very intelligent man and he would not let that happened. Finally, they chose the easier option. They would get to him through his daughter, Paine Teyw. The mission was so easy. One of his younger agents would infiltrate into her circle of friends, earn her trust and come up to Millow Teyw. Once the agent had reached Millow, that person has to look for evidence to charge him with drug trafficking and so do justice.  
Lenne first sought among the different police girls, but none gave the paper they were seeking. All were too old to infiltrate the group of friends of a girl of 20 years. Discarded all her female options, Lenne went on to study the profiles of the boys. He must be young, and that was something that the body was missing. Most were elderly people who had completed their careers and were working. They needed someone who could at least pretend to be a guy who was about to finish his studies. The list was reduced to three. Examining more closely the profile of each of the boys, Lenne decided that the most appropriate was Baralai, so she had a meeting with him in which she told him the plan. Baralai happily accepted his role and said he was ready to act at any time.  
"You are very unfair Lenne. I can get in one night the same information as Baralai in all those months that he will have to act." Gippal said outraged because they had not chosen him to perform the mission.  
"No Gippal, you cannot get all that information in one night." Lenne replied while serving a drink to a customer.  
"Okay, okay, okay. You only want me to have something with you, I understand. But what about Tidus?" Gippal inquired, causing Lenne to be more exasperated.  
"Tidus." Lenne began to say and turned to look at the guy she was talking about. Tidus was concentrated in a bowl of nuts while looking for more pistachios to eat. Seeing that the bowl was over with pistachios, he gave a pout and grabbed another bowl with more pistachios. "Are you really asking me why I have not chosen to Tidus?"  
"Okay, okay. Tidus out for being short of mind. But you are so unfair to me. You cannot put me of the mission because you simply want our relationship to be a close one. Honey" Gippal said sitting up and approaching Lenne. "It's just work.” He said with a smile and Lenne shot him a dirty look.  
"Gippal. First thing is that you and I have not got any relationship. And the second is that we look for someone who does not establish those ties with the subject, because it could ruin the mission. Although you did not have that intention, you'd end up in bed with her and the mission would be lost because she would not want to see you again in her life." Lenne said trying not to sound angry.  
"Why do you say she wouldn’t want to see me again? I'm not that bad in bed." Gippal defended himself.  
"Gippal ... you load me. Anyway, I've been studying your profiles and Baralai is ideal for this mission. He is educated and knows what he's doing. In addition, he knows how to separate work from feelings, so we shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not he established ties with the subject." Added Lenne smiling to Baralai, who had been listening to the conversation between Gippal and Lenne but had his eyes on the subject of mission.  
"What do we know about her?" He asked without taking his eyes out of Paine.  
"She doesn’t like to be taken for a fool. She doesn’t like people who lie to her, and it is insecure." Lenne reported to Baralai. Well, we start right, Baralai thought.  
"She doesn’t seem insecure.” Baralai said as he watched as Paine stood up and walked with her friends to the dance floor. Baralai watched every move she made. She isn’t an insecure girl, he repeated in his head, looks more like she wants to eat the whole world, he thought.  
"She doesn’t know who to trust. Doesn’t know if people are really with her because they are friends or because of interest." Lenne went on saying while also watching Paine.  
"She’s hot." Gippal commented, which made Lenne let out a snort. Gippal turned completely to her. "What?!" He asked Lenne offended as she merely shook her head.  
"How do I do it then?" Baralai asked, not knowing how to act with that girl.  
"Just come closer and say, 'Did it hurt?'. When she asks you what you're talking about you just answer 'Did it hurt you to fall from heaven? Because you must be an angel.' And you take the set." Gippal said with a smile.  
"No!" Lenne exclaimed. "Firstly Gippal, that is well seen. She’d reject you just looking at you. Secondly is that we don’t want her to fall in love with Baralai. We want her to trust him. To consider him as a friend." Lenne said. "I don’t want to repeat it."  
"Why don’t you offer her pistachios then?" Tidus asked, making everyone swiveled toward him with looks of you-are-joking.  
Baralai, sick of hearing useless advice from his friends and his boss, got up from his stool. His friends watched him. Baralai spun around the room trying to avoid Paine gaze. He found the perfect position to walk past her, dedicate a smile, and go back to his stool at the bar.  
Baralai launched its plan. He began to move towards the group of girls that were on the dance floor. When he approached them, he looked distracted to the bar, faking he was looking for a seat at the bar. However, his plan had a slight change of plans. He had not thought that one of Paine’s friends would move towards him and throw him a drink on his shirt and pants. It was a girl with short blond hair and brown eyes. The other Paine’s friends began to apologize to Baralai while Paine was watching him with a funny look while moving to the beat of the music. Baralai looked at his blue shirt and beige trousers, which were completely wet. He looked up and met with Paine’s eyes. It was a brief contact, but it lasted long enough for him to smile. After the smile, Paine quickly looked away and kept dancing. Baralai accepted the apology of the girls and said that nothing was wrong. Then he returned to his plan and went to his stool, passing by Paine, who turned at that moment is in front of him. Baralai, reflexively, took her by the shoulders and gave her a friendly smile. Paine also responded with a small smile involuntarily. Baralai’s plan had worked out. On the way to his stool, Baralai was planning his next move.

"Woah Paine." Rikku cried laughing as they walked back to the table they had been occupying. "He’s so attractive."  
"You know him?" Yuna asked with a smile. Paine shook her head in response. She could not help blushing.  
"Want to meet him?" LeBlanc laughed as she winked at Yuna and nudged Rikku.  
"No, thanks." Paine said while looking away from her friends. She did not know who that guy was. But her friends were right. He was sexy and she really wanted to know him.  
The girls kept messing with Paine, who responded giving her back. She was casting her eyes around the room until she found the boy who had smiled at her. She thought about to approach him, introduce herself and have a good night with him. But he was accompanied by some friends and kept talking with the waitress.  
The girls were silent watching Paine until finally, they called her. Paine turned bewildered.  
"What were you looking at Paine?" Yuna asked.  
"Sure you were looking for the guy." Rikku suggested.  
"Oh love. You'd better go talk to him before the waitress takes him." LeBlanc said pointing with her head to the waitress.  
"I don’t want to meet him." Paine lied with a smile. "Although today I want to spoil the night of somebody." She and her friends started laughing.  
Paine took her glass and drank it as fast as she could. She rose from her seat and stumbled a bit, but quickly regained her balance. She winked at her friends and headed to the bar where the guy in the blue shirt was.  
It took her a while to take off all the guys that came to talk to her, but Paine managed to avoid them and follow her path to the bar.

"Beware, guys, she's coming." Lenne warned and continued to serve drinks to random people that were in the bar.  
"Woah Lai'. I don’t know what you've done, but it’s worked. You have to tell me." Gippal said laughing.  
"A magician never reveals his tricks.” Baralai joked and sneaking a peek at Paine, who had come to the bar.  
"Excuse me." Paine told Lenne, which surprised the group of boys and waitress. "Give me a bloody mary." Paine ordered.  
While waiting for her drink, Paine leaned against the bar. She had put down the neckline of her shirt and, at the position in which she was, anyone could see what was underneath it. The boys could not help noticing Paine’s chest.  
"Oh my Yevon." Gippal muttered without taking off his eye from Paine’s chest. Gippal nudged to Baralai, which was more focused on his glass than in the girl next to him. "You're missing the best part of the night." Gippal told him.  
Baralai laughed, but could not help looking at the girl beside him. A few minutes later, Lenne handed Paine her drink, and the girl went slowly without saying anything and moving her hips gently. The boys turned to watch her go. Her movements were hypnotic. Lenne, tired of the scene caught the attention of the boys, who returned their attention to their boss. Lenne followed Paine with her gaze and when she turned to look toward the bar, their eyes met. Paine gave her a look of superiority, while Lenne shot her a murderous look.  
"Baralai. You have to be just friends."Lenne warned him again.  
"I know." Baralai muttered but not before looking carefully at Paine again.

"Well done Paine." Rikku said as she smiles at her friend. "You've made them stop looking at the waitress," Rikku reported while directing her gaze towards the boys. They were handsome and sexy. If only I wasn’t engaged... Rikku thought to herself as she continued looking at the guys.  
"Well Rikku, how are the preparations for the wedding?" LeBlanc asked.  
"We don’t have a date for the wedding yet." Rikku said faking a smile.  
"Haven’t you searched a date?" Yuna asked a little worried. For almost six months Rikku was engaged and there wasn’t any progress in the wedding.  
"Auron has been busy and we haven’t had time to talk about it." Rikku said. It was not an excuse.  
Auron had proposed Rikku a few months ago. Rikku was delighted because she was so in love with him, but seeing as he was behaving at that time, Rikku began to doubt whether her response was well or not. After Auron asked Rikku, he changed his attitude towards her. He did not stop in the house they both had. They neither ate together nor went for a walk. That was not the life Rikku wanted. Rikku wanted a partner.  
"Sure you don’t talk to him about it at the best time." LeBlanc suggested.  
"Is there a specific time to talk about a wedding?" Paine asked sarcastically, who intervened for the first time in the conversation.  
"Well, when you are in bed wouldn’t be a bad time." LeBlanc suggested. Sure ... in bed ..., Rikku said to herself thinking about how long she had not been in bed with Auron. "It worked for me." LeBlanc added.  
"Eww. Too much-unwanted information." Paine said as she rose from her seat. "Girls, it's late. We should go."  
"True, I have to work tomorrow in the shop." Yuna said as she stood up and began to gather her things.  
"I see you girls out, I'm drowning a bit." Paine said. She was dazed by alcohol and the club lights.

Paine came to the door of the club. The queue had decreased. Maybe people were tired of waiting. She was walking on the sidewalk while thinking about what happened that night. Thinking about the time she had with her friends, the laughter that they had, and the guy in the blue shirt. Stop it, Paine. That guy interested you for a night, but nothing else, Paine told herself.  
She continued circling the sidewalk and felt like two guys could not stop looking at her. At first, it did not matter to Paine, but when the guys started to go after her it did. Paine turned to them and the guys pushed her into an alley.  
"Let me go!" Paine exclaimed, waving her legs.  
"We cannot let someone as pretty as you go home alone." One of the guys said.  
Paine was very pissed off. She took a slip of one of the guys to release her arm and throw a punch to the other guy who was holding her. Although she did not boast about it, Paine could fight very well. She had no trouble with getting rid of a guy, but when there were two, Paine had it more complicated. One of the guys punched Paine, who fell to the ground. The guys were approaching her as they laughed together. Just when the boys were about to catch Paine again, someone hit them from behind. Paine did not stop to see who was the person who had helped her. She got up and continued beating the guys next to that other person.  
After a few strokes, the boys fell to the ground, unconscious. Paine's hair had fallen into her eyes. She looked at the person who had helped her. Paine was surprised to see the boy with the blue shirt, who was getting well the sleeves of his shirt.  
"You shouldn’t do that." Baralai told Paine as he held a hand to her to get up from the floor.  
Paine knew she shouldn’t fight in a public place. It was illegal. But she had done it in self-defense and, given her privileges, she would not have any problem with the police.  
"It was in self-defense. Nobody can say anything about it." Paine said ignoring the hand that the man in front of her handed him.  
"What?" He asked with an amused tone in his voice. "I meant that you could get hurt." He said pointing Paine’s fist, which was red and swollen.  
Paine looked at her fist. She was about to say something when she heard Yuna and the others’ voices. Paine rose from the ground, shook her skirt and left the alley, throwing a last look at the man who had helped her. Baralai remained standing there, watching her. When Paine turned to him, she gave her a similar smile than the one on the dance floor.  
When Paine disappeared, Baralai bent down and picked something up. It was a bracelet with several pendants and a 'P'. He smiled. With that bracelet, he had the perfect excuse to talk to Paine the next time he saw her. Baralai grabbed his phone and dialed Lenne.  
"Our mission has just begun. The result of the first day: the subject doesn’t suspect anything." He said and hung up with a smile.

"Paine, where were you?" LeBlanc asked while Yuna and Rikku were laughing together.  
"I was walking to reassure me." Paine lied. She did not want to tell her friends that she had been fighting in an alley with the guy in the blue shirt.  
"You just lost as Rikku ate a guy in the club." Yuna said, laughing.  
"It was by accident." Rikku blushed. "But the guy wasn’t bad. He was very mysterious with that patch over his right eye." Rikku muttered. Luckily no one heard it.  
After a long farewell, the girls were each home. Rikku was with LeBlanc to the left, and Paine and Yuna were to the right.  
As they went to their respective homes, Paine and Rikku could not stop thinking about those brief encounters they had had with those guys.


	2. Getting into the college paper

Paine woke up the next morning. She turned to her side and saw Yuna lying on the floor and hugging a pillow. How has Yuna got there? Paine asked herself. She turned to the right and took her mobile to check out the time. It was 11.30 am and she had a missed call from her father. Paine sighed before dialing his father’s number and taking the phone to her ear.  
"Good morning Paine." Her father greeted her seriously. Paine took a few seconds to answer as she thought what she had done now. Finally, Paine greeted him back. "How was your night yesterday?" Millow asked.  
"The night was fine." Paine replied reluctantly. She did not want to tell her father anything about the fight she had had, nor was going to tell him about the boy of that night.  
"Are you alone?" Her father inquired.  
"Yuna is here with me." Paine replied while directing her gaze to Yuna to make sure she was okay.  
"I want to see you. Today." Millow said. Paine rubbed her eyes. Her father did not sound very happy and Paine did not feel like to get on with his temper. However, Paine finally accepted and she would see her father in a while.  
When the call ended, Paine lay back on her bed and closed her eyes, wishing it was a dream. When she opened them, she realized it was not a dream, and her father wanted to see her.  
She rose slowly and quietly from the bed to avoid waking up Yuna. She noticed that she had slept in her clothes the last night and they were totally wrinkled now. Paine went slowly to her closet, opened the door carefully and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a sweatshirt. She grabbed her clothes and went to the shower.  
After a few minutes, Paine left the shower with a better mood and more comfortable clothes. She looked at the ground, where Yuna stayed. Paine knew that Yuna had to go to work, but she looked so tired that Paine decided to call her work to tell them she was not going. When she had solved the matter of Yuna’s work, Paine took a notebook and wrote a note telling Yuna that she would be back in a while and not to worry about work. She left the notebook next to Yuna and went to his father’s house.  
Paine was walking to his father’s home. When she reached the garden, she opened a huge and heavy gate. She reached the front door and called repeatedly until a girl opened it. Paine introduced herself into the interior of the house without giving any explanation to the girl and went straight to the office of his father, who was on the second floor.  
The office door was locked. Paine debated in her head whether to knock or enter directly. Finally, she decided to call before opening the door herself. When she entered the office was empty, but Paine did not move from there. She knew her father would go there anytime. While she was waiting, she examined the office of her father. It was a large room, with a marble floor and light yellow walls. There were several green plants well maintained. Thanks to his workers, Paine thought, who knew that her father was not very good with flowers. There was a wall filled with shelves of books, among which you could find novels, poetry, essays ... In the middle of the room and in front of a large window, it was his father’s table, which was very tidy. There was no paper out of place. In front of the table, there were two chairs so visitors can sit. Moreover, on the wall of the right of the table was a door that was usually locked. After that door, there was a meeting room in which Paine’s father and his partners met occasionally and spent hours talking about work, or that was what Paine believed.  
The front door of the office opened and Millow Teyw appeared. He was a tall man, with blue eyes and gray hair. He had a wide jaw, but his nose was very thin, like Paine’s. He was an elegant man. His movements were very dynamic and always wore a suit. That day, he was wearing a grey suit with a blue tie. When he saw his daughter, he gave her a hug.  
"Glad to see you, dear." He said when he left her. He sat in his desk chair and motioned Paine to also sit on one of the other two chairs. "I hope you are right." Millow returned to say when Paine sat.  
The good mood that Paine had had that morning, it vanished when his father said that. Paine knew his father wanted to talk to her about something particular, but he was beating around the bush, which bothered Paine greatly.  
"What do you want, dad?" Paine asked seriously as she ran her right hand to her left wrist, where it was supposed to be her bracelet. However, her bracelet was not there. Paine was alarmed at first but then thought maybe it was in her room.  
Millow laughed when Paine asked him that question. He knew very well her daughter and her daughter knew him. It did not seem fair to keep mulling over the issue.  
"Tell me what happened last night." Millow said, although more than a question or a suggestion was an order.  
"Nothing." Paine replied as she dodged his father's gaze.  
"Tell me why you have that bruise on your left cheek." Millow returned to order.  
"I've hit my closet door this morning." Paine lied to his father who replied with a laugh.  
"Paine, tell me about the fight." Millow said and Paine was silent. "It is true that you have some privileges that other people do not have, but that does not give you the right to go hitting people, Paine."  
"It was in self-defense." Paine said, making his father's attitude changed.  
"Did they do anything to you?" Asked his father worried.  
"No, but they tried." Paine said. Telling him that, she knew her father would not let her all the freedom she had at the time, as he would care about her welfare. "Dad, don’t worry." Paine said, looking into his father’s eyes for the first time. "It was nothing."  
Millow looked thoughtful for a few minutes. He was pondering what to do about the safety of her daughter. He did not want to happen anything like the night before, so he decided that someone else had to look after her. The problem was that if Paine knew that someone was watching her, she would be very angry and that was something Millow wanted to avoid. For that reason, he decided to leave the matter in secret.  
"I hope it won’t happen again. I don’t want you to get hurt." Millow said while smiling at his daughter when she rose from her chair. He accompanied Paine to the front door of the house.  
Millow ensured that Paine left the house. When she got out of his sight, he got back into the house and went to his office. Once there, he called several of his trusted young men and charged them the task of looking after Paine. He gave orders to protect her at all costs, and he emphasized that Paine could not discover them.

On the way home, Paine was thinking about the conversation with her father. Although he had not said anything, Paine knew that from that day she would have high monitoring her, which was something she hated. Paine sighed. I can no longer trust anyone, she said to herself.  
She arrived at her apartment in the center. She had a lot of anger inside thinking she was going to be watched 24 hours. To release that anger, she kicked a chair, causing a domino effect that ended up pulling another chair to the floor. Due to noise, Yuna's head emerged from the bathroom door. Yuna saw her friend sitting on the lounge couch, so she bundled in a towel and went out to talk to her.  
"Paine." Yuna said as she sat on the couch next to her friend. "What happens?" She asked worriedly.  
"I just have had an argument with my father." Paine replied, although actually, such argument had not happened.  
"Was it bad?" Yuna's voice sounded worried, but she knew that Paine was not going to say anything.  
"A foolish." Paine smiled and looked at Yuna. "You were in the shower?" Paine asked to change the subject. She did not want to tell Yuna anything about the fight either.  
"Yes, I had dirty hair and ..." Yuna started to say but stopped when she looked at Paine who had an angry look in her face. "Is something wrong?" Yuna smiled and at that time she wanted to run away.  
"You only want to be in my house for the shower?" Paine asked with an aggressive tone.  
"What? No. Of course not. I come here to keep you company." Yuna laughed, but her laughter was cut when Paine threw her a pillow at her face and chased her out of the lounge saying she was wet.

Rikku woke up earlier than usual. She hoped Auron was still there, but when she turned to his side of the bed, she found it empty. Rikku sighed. She grabbed a robe and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.  
While she ate breakfast, she had a moment of reflection. She thought of the day when Auron kissed her for the first time. It looks so far ... She thought of the day when Auron gave her the keys to the house he had just bought. At that time Rikku felt extremely happy. She could not stop thinking about the things they would do together then.  
Thinking about that made Rikku angry. Angry about how her life had ended.  
"I don’t deserve this!" Rikku exclaimed as she threw a dish to the floor and it broke into pieces. She thought doing that would help her feel better, but she felt a lump in her throat. Finally, she ended up sitting on the kitchen floor, leaning against the wall and sobbing like a child of five years which have been punished without playing with her favorite toy. She cries with rage, but also with sadness.

"Good morning sweetheart." A voice muttered in Baralai’s ear.  
Baralai was so tired and was lying in his bed. As much as that person would like to wake him up, it was not going to get it, or at least that was what Baralai believed. He woke up startled when he noticed someone squeezing his ass. He opened his eyes and looked desperately at his companion.  
"Gippal!?" Baralai exclaimed as he tucked his head under his pillow.  
"Good morning, sleepyhead. What’s wrong? You don’t like me to wake you up?" Gippal asked with an amused tone in his voice.  
"Gippal, of all the people who inhabit this world, you're the last one I want to see when I woke up." Baralai muttered.  
"Oh come on 'Lai. I'm not that ugly." Gippal laughed while he took the pillow from Baralai, getting a grunt from him. At Gippal’s insistence, Baralai got out of his bed. "Ahg, Baralai. Please. Put on a shirt." Gippal exclaimed while pointing at Baralai’s bare torso and turning his gaze away.  
"Gippal, you've showered with me. Stop the nonsense." Baralai replied to his friend.  
"Who has showered with whom?" Tidus asked with a look of disgust on his face.  
"Tidus!?" Baralai exclaimed. "Where were you?" He asked.  
"I've been here all the time." Tidus said faking a pout.  
Baralai sighed deeply while he rubbed his eyes and breathed deeply.  
"Guys. Get out of my room. I‘m going to get dressed." Finally, Baralai said and his friends followed his order.  
After twenty minutes, Baralai left his room dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.  
"I see you're getting into your college paper." Gippal pointed.  
"I can say the same about you." Baralai smiled as he walked to his kitchen for breakfast. "Design shirt and blue jeans. All accompanied by a pair of black trainers... Typical." Baralai commented as he took a bowl of cereal and joined his teammates in the living room of his apartment.  
"I'm glad you've noted that because ... Surprise, surprise!" Gippal exclaimed waving his arms. Baralai looked confused. "I'll be your classmate!" Gippal announced.  
"That reminds me." Tidus said as he stopped to drink the glass of milk he had taken from Baralai’s kitchen. "I'm going to college too.”  
Baralai was stunned, looking at his friends. He was sure it was a joke because Lenne would not let them interfere in the mission. However, he decided to ask before.  
"It's a joke. Right? "Baralai asked as he released his spoonful of cereal into the bowl. "Right?"  
"No." Gippal replied smiling. He knew what his friend was thinking. "We talked this morning with Lenne. We have told her that it would be a good idea if we go to college with you. So, if something goes wrong, we can help." Gippal smiled as he leaned on Baralai’s couch.  
"Yeah." Baralai said. He did not believe a word. "Did you convince her like that?" He asked raising an eyebrow.  
"Well, actually we were talking about it with her last night at the party." Tidus commented. "And this morning a couple of hours."  
Baralai looked surprised to his friends before laughing.  
"How we convinced her is not important. The important thing is that you won’t be alone in that jungle that is college." Gippal said standing up. "Which reminds me that we have to go to buy books and clothes." Gippal smiled as he took his friends' hands and pushed them towards the door. "It will be fun."

Rikku had called the girls after a refreshing shower. She had been talking to Paine and had arranged that they would eat together in Paine’s house. Rikku had a couple of hours before going to Paine’s house and did not want to stay alone at home, so she grabbed her purse and went to buy clothes.  
Rikku stopped at a new store that had opened a few weeks ago. She had never entered in, but the window caught his eye.  
She began to pick some shirts that were hanging on a hanger. Then, she went on to examine the pants and skirts, and finally the dresses.

"Oh come on Baralai. You cannot take so long to try on some pants." Gippal mumbled as he punched the door of the changer room where Baralai was, and then leaned against the opposite wall. He was looking at the different customers that were in the store. He noticed a guy with horn-rimmed glasses and design shirt. He doesn’t look right with that shirt ... "Tidus, do you like my shirt?" Gippal asked his friend.  
"It's very pretty." Tidus commented as he got a crisp in his mouth. "I’m getting bored."  
"Tidus, we need to do this. Don’t start as usual.” Gippal replied and continued watching the clientele. His eyes stopped on a girl. She had her blonde hair tied in a ponytail that hung to her waist. She was petite and small. "Hey, Tidus." Gippal called his friend. "Check out that girl." Gippal said pointing to the girl.  
"She's cute." Tidus replied. "How old do you think she is?" He asked.  
"She cannot be older than 17. She looks so young." Gippal laughed and his eye met the girl’s eyes. At that moment he recognized her. It was the girl from the other night.

Rikku was surprised to meet again with the guy from the night before. At first she did not know how to react, but finally, she smiled and went to look more clothes, but she made sure not to leave the field of view of the boy.

"Tidus!" Gippal exclaimed. "It's the girl of the yesterday."  
"How did she get into the club with just 17?" Tidus asked curiously. "Really Baralai, what is taking you so long?!" A desperate Tidus screamed.  
"Wait a few seconds. I need to try on other pants." Baralai said from the other side of the changing room, receiving from Tidus a groan of despair.  
"Tidus. Wait here.” Gippal told Tidus.  
"Agh. Where are you going? She’s so young." Tidus said scared. "Please don’t leave me!" Tidus exclaimed holding Gippal’s arm.  
"What!? Stop holding me!" Gippal replied while released from Tidus’ grip. "I'm going to talk to her. Tidus. I need to talk to her." He said and started walking towards the girl.

Rikku watched the boy with the patch. She watched as his friend held him, but he ignored him and continued to look down at her. She saw him approach her and stopped beside her while pretending he was looking some t-shirts. Rikku smiled as she examined a T-shirt next to her. She glanced at the boy beside her and saw he was smiling too. Rikku was to place the shirt in the hanger when she noticed the ring on her left hand. The ring that Auron gave her. She hesitated between remove it or not. Finally, she chose to take it off, thinking to herself that she needed some fun. Auron will never know.  
"Nice shirt." The boy told her.  
"I’m not convinced." Rikku replied. "Looking for a shirt for a girlfriend?" Rikku asked with a mischievous smile.  
"No." Gippal replied as he threw a wink to her.  
"So ... why are you in the girls' section then?"  
"Actually ... I don’t know." Gippal laughed. "My name’s Gippal." He said and held out his hand.  
"Rikku. Nice to meet you." Rikku replied as she shook Gippal’s hand.  
"Do you live around here?" Gippal asked as he gave Rikku a t-shirt that he had seen.  
"Thank you." Rikku said as she picked up the shirt and examined it. "I have a house near the university." Rikku replied.  
"University?" Gippal asked raising an eyebrow and looking up and down Rikku. "You cannot be older than 18 years old then."  
"I’m actually 20. But thank you for saying that I do not look older than 18.” Rikku smiled. "I’m studying Law, Administration, and Management." Rikku added as she showed Gippal another t-shirt.  
"Nice career." Gippal replied as he placed the t-shirt she had showed him on a hanger and picked another at random. "I'm studying Chemical Engineering."  
"I haven’t seen you at college." Rikku said as she picked up the two shirts that Gippal had given her and went to pay them.  
"I just moved here." He lied as he followed Rikku.  
"Then I hope to see you on campus on Monday." Rikku replied as she winked at Gippal.  
Gippal stared dumbfounded. He saw as Rikku grabbed her bag with the t-shirts that he had chosen her and left the store. Before leaving she turned to him and gave him a smile.  
"Dude, forget her." A voice behind his said. Gippal turned and found Baralai, who had a lot of clothes in one hand, and Tidus, who also had a few pants and a few t-shirts. "She's a friend of Paine."  
"So?" Gippal asked as he looked at his friends.  
"Tidus, explain it." Baralai said.  
"If you leave her, you’ll hurt her. Paine would end up finding it out and she would hate you and all around you. That includes Baralai. Logically, Paine would hate Baralai and the mission would go to hell ... Is that so?" Tidus asked looking at Baralai who nodded.  
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad in bed. She cannot hate me." Gippal replied as he followed his friends out of the store. "I don’t want to hurt her." Gippal muttered quietly. None of his friends heard it. It was true. For the first time in his life, Gippal did not want to hurt a girl. He really liked Rikku.


End file.
